Tag: nehru centre art gallery

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Deal with it

This artist is taking art to the public

Artist and painter Manoj Maurya recently introduced visually challenged students to art and taught them to create their own paintings.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

This is the sort of sunshine initiative each of us must undertake in our own small way: imagine introducing a visually challenged person to paint and canvas.

In a first of its kind initiative towards making art accessible for masses, artist and painter Manoj Maurya recently invited visually challenged students from the city’s blind schools and made them ‘see’ paintings. Manoj described and discussed paintings with the students and also took an interactive workshop where he taught them how to create paintings. The initiative to connect art with the masses is titled ‘ReBORN series’.

Manoj_Mauryaa_ReBORN-_Blind_Students-5He even made a painting with the students which he later gifted them with. Manoj explained, “I want to make even the visually challenged capable for expressing their thoughts through the medium of visual arts and paintings. The reactions and questions that these students asked me on my paintings were as insightful as those asked by art connoisseurs. After understanding the ReBORN series, one student asked me what I thought was the colour of the soul. Another asked me the colour of birth and death. They grasped my paintings and the thought behind them.”

The ReBORN Exhibition by Manoj seeks to establish a missing connect between art and the general masses. Manoj says, “Paintings as a form of art should increase their reach and be more relevant and productive for the society. In my own way, I am trying to achieve this [objective], so I have already invited underprivileged children and taught them the finer nuances of paintings. Before this, I have also  invited autorickshaw drivers to explore and understand the importance of art. While helping them acknowledge their creative potential, I think that educating autorickshaw drivers about art would go a long way in keeping our clean and beautiful.”

The ReBORN exhibition concluded recently at the Nehru Centre Art Gallery.

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Event

Exhibition: Prakash Ghadge showcases Mumbai

Renowned pen and ink artist’s solo show opens today at Nehru Centre Art Gallery; presents Mumbai in all its splendour.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

In the rush to run our daily lives, and in the midst of increasing traffic, commuter chaos and crime, we often forget one simple fact: Mumbai is gorgeous.

Renowned Pen & Ink Artist Prakash GhadgeHowever, noted pen and ink artist Prakash Ghadge (in pic on left) hasn’t forgotten the city of his birth. In a solo showing starting today, February 18 to 24, 2014 at the Nehru Centre Art Gallery, Prakash will exhibit a series of his works capturing the small, hidden beauties of Mumbai.

Prakash says, “I aim to gather all the small beauties of our own city and put them down in my paintings. I am excited to showcase my exhibition with a specific aim to let people know the beauty of their own city. I have travelled across the world, yet I always question myself, ‘Why do Indians plan their sightseeing outside India?’ As soon as I returned from my world art tour, I began drawing my own city. That’s when I decided to do a series on each city with its course of nature, too.”

He adds, “What gives my work its originality is my use of the Rotring pen, that helps emphasise light and shadows. First and foremost, nature is the inspiration of my work. Drawing and sketching have always been a part of my life. Wherever I go, my camera or sketch book are always with me so that I can capture all sorts of subjects that I would like to sketch. I have also exhibited my favourite subject related to water, like the Ghats, boats, reflections.”

In the exhibition, you can see the few Benares Ghat drawings (in pic below) Prakash has added. “I have always wanted to share that emotion, Benaras Ghat_Pen & Ink Drawing_Upcoming solo Exhibition_Nehru Centre _18th to 24th February, 13which often exists for only a moment,” he explains.

 

Head to Nehru Centre Art Gallery, Worli, from today up to February 24, 2014. 

(Pictures courtesy Prakash Ghadge)

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Event

Art discusses human existence

A week-long group exhibition at Nehru Centre Art Gallery will discuss the question of existence; four city artists will participate.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

'Krishnamay Radha' by Harshada TondwalkarFour Maharashtra-based artists will, from December 24 to 31, discuss the concept of existence – through a series of paintings in oil and water colours on canvas.

The paintings are on various topics within the same theme, and the participating artists are Dilip Kolte, Anil Jadhav, Amol Sule and Harshada Tondwalkar. While Dilip, Anil and Amol will showcase landscapes and figurative paintings in oil, pen and ink on canvas, Harshada’s compositions centre around the theme ‘Krishnamay Radha’ (see pic on left). “My work shows the extent to which Radha immersed herself in her love for Lord Krishna,” says Mumbai-based Harshada, adding that her eight canvasses took her about a year to prepare.

Head to the ‘Circular Gallery’, Nehru Centre Art Gallery, Worli, from December 24 to 31, 2013 to view the artists’ works.

(Pictures courtesy Harshada Tondwalkar)

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Do

RK Laxman, in an exhibition

Over 200 of the legendary cartoonist’s works are being displayed at Worli’s Nehru Centre Art Gallery till January 5, 2014.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Journalists and students of the profession will often remark on the role and importance of the political cartoonist in the newspaper’s overall scheme of things – and lament at the absence of the cartoonist in contemporary media.

Hence, it is heartening to visit an exhibition of works by India’s best-loved political cartoonist, RK Laxman. The exhibition, the 21st in the ‘Indian Master’s Retrospective’, was inaugurated by Maharashtra State Governor K Sankaranarayanan at the Worli-based Nehru Centre Art Gallery, and the works have been curated by the Gallery’s Assistant Director, Nina Rege. The showing includes over 200 cartoons, old and new, made by Laxman.

RK Laxman exhibitionSpeaking at the inauguration, the Governor said, “Few cartoonists have held forth such a long sway over readers as RK Laxman has done with his remarkable work, day after day and year after year for 60 long years. He has been a ‘people’s representative’ in the real sense of the term for all these years.  He gave face to the aam aadmi in our country. Through his cartoons, he has represented the silent millions of the country, voiced their real problems and raised their issues forcefully in the corridors of power.

“Very importantly, Shri Laxman has explained to the readers a range of complex political, national and international issues using his master strokes and a few simple lines. Personally, I rate the cartoonist a few notches higher than the Editor.”

The Governor exhorted the public to visit the exhibition as it “brings to light some of Shri Laxman’s best and yet less known works.  It has also brought out Laxman, the artist. His sketches of personalities and landscapes are outstanding and prove his brilliance as an artist.”

A new book,  Finely Exaggerated, will also be released during the exhibition period.

Head to Nehru Centre Art Gallery, Worli, from 11 am to 7 pm. The exhibition is on till January 5, 2014. Call 022 24963426 for details.

(Pictures courtesy Raj Bhavan, Mumbai)

 

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